To the Editor:
Like many students, I was upset by the Dimensions protest and the events that followed the threats and the administration's tone-deaf response. But it was on the Green, on Wednesday morning, hearing administrators state that "today is the day Dartmouth changes," that I realized why I was so angry.
Cultural and policy changes do not happen in a day, and Dartmouth's changes did not start on Wednesday or last week. They have been going on for a while.
Dartmouth improved last year when students and administrators made reforms to the adjudication process for sexual assault. Change happened this year when Greek houses decided to kick out members found responsible for sexual assault. Thursday's "Take Back the Night" event addressed the self-selection that plagues community discussions by inviting numerous co-sponsors and literally taking the conversation to the community. Even the Bias Incident Response Team deserves some praise for representing a systematic approach by the administration to handle bias-motivated harassment.
I left Wednesday's events with buzzwords and no sense of tangible change. But maybe I am just a jaded senior. I hope they lead to a dramatic cultural shift. But we should refrain from patting ourselves on the back until we actually see change.
In the meantime, we should thank Dartmouth's unsung heroes, the students and staff who work day after day to address the many issues this campus faces. Sometimes social justice means radical action and making headlines, but just as often it requires hard, boring work and incremental but lasting progress.
